These Curved Corten Steel Fire Pits make a fantastic low maintenance garden feature. Available in four sizes from 60cm-120cm they can suit any sized space and be easily moved to different areas in the garden for entertaining. Corten will weather to develop its own rich rust finish. RRPs start at just £66. www.thepotco.com

The Society of Garden Designers has announced the winners of the SGD Awards 2017 at its sixth annual award ceremony in London. Robert Myers MSGD was presented with the most prestigious award of the night, winning the Grand Award for The Magic Garden at Hampton Court Palace; while Matt Keightley MSGD won three awards including the distinguished Judges’ Award for his eastern-inspired Tyre Hill House Garden; and visionary Spanish designer Fernando Caruncho was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. In total, 17 designers were presented with awards across 19 categories including accolades for the best Large Residential Garden, Healing &…

Spider – often termed the ‘safest mower on the market’ – is now being distributed in the UK and Republic of Ireland exclusively by T H WHITE Machinery Imports. Specially developed for mowing in challenging, high slope environments, Spider remote-control mowers were previously distributed in the UK through Jacobsen on behalf of manufacturers Dvorak. Now, they have been added to the impressive line-up of outstanding niche products for the professional groundcare market from T H WHITE Machinery Imports. Spider slope mowers are perfect for a wide range of applications involving steep, uneven or sometimes dangerous terrain. The machines are ideal…

Almost 1600 native wildflowers have been planted across the Yorkshire Dales and Forest of Bowland this year thanks to the efforts of two experts and a team of volunteers, to provide crucial pollen and nectar for bees and other beneficial insects next year. Almost 1000 of these baby ‘plug’ plants have been carefully grown and hand-planted into meadows and small pollinator patches in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) by expert Sarah Robinson. With help from a team of enthusiastic volunteers, Sarah has planted a colourful variety of native wildflower species that would once have been…

Ground Control, one of the UK’s fastest growing, privately owned, external landscape solution providers, has donated landscape personnel to assist with the build of a new roof garden at the children’s hospital. The venture saw the creation of a tranquil and invaluable garden, providing young patients and their families with a much needed respite area away from the intensity of the ward, while ensuring patients are safe within the hospital site and close to their loved ones. The garden, which has been created by award-winning garden designer, Chris Beardshaw for this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, will be dismantled after the…

Whether your project is a professional landscaping commission or a residential garden, everyone benefits from accessibility. Not only does it open up an area to everyone, it also addresses everyday practical issues from moving garden toys and furniture around to the job we all dread – putting the wheelie bin out! The inclusion of ramps and accessible pathways, into all landscape/garden designs, is becoming increasingly popular – which we believe can only be a good thing! We hope you find this Blog about ramps and accessible footpaths useful, but please remember it is just a helpful guide – we strongly…

Jacob Botting of Myerscough College has been announced as ‘Best in the UK’ in landscaping after winning gold at the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) WorldSkills UK final. Ross Conquest of Conquest Hard Landscaping took silver, and, Aaron Byrne of Reaseheath College took bronze. The APL WorldSkills final took place last week from 17-19 November at the NEC in Birmingham in front of over 100,000 visitors per day Over the four days, one of which being a training/prep day, the competitors had 16 hours to build a garden designed by head judge and technical lead Jody Lidgard. Jacob spoke to…

Oak View Landscapes has been recognised for the way that it supports, develops and manages its staff with an internationally recognised accreditation from Investors in People (IIP). The company has achieved Silver IIP Standard following a rigorous assessment process which looks at how businesses empower staff, recognise and reward good performance and deliver continuous improvement. IIP expect the Silver Level to be awarded to the top five percentile of organisations assessed. Oak View was congratulated for being “a successful and ambitious organisation that continues to outperform whilst focussing on quality provision and market leading services.” Jakki Jenner, operations director, who…

Quality & Service, (Q&S) the independent commercial landscape company, has announced that it is now a formally Recognised Service Provider proudly working together with the Living Wage Foundation. Q&S had implemented the UK and London Living Wage for employees working at its head office and a proportion of core employees working on Client Estates. However, this Recognition Award from the Living Wage Foundation demonstrates that Q&S are further committed, where permitted, to submitting the Living Wage alternative in all its Tenders and will promote the adoption of the Living Wage to its Clients. The Recognition Award for Service Providers was created…

Europe’s leading Laurel grower Laurica Plants has re-designed its company website to make it easier for clients to use. The company, based in Jabbeke near Bruges, decided to update its website for wholesalers, buyers for garden centres, and those in the landscaping sector to be able to easily access what they are looking for along with relevant advice and more information about the company itself. Director Marian Maenhoudt said: “We wanted a new website with plenty of nice pictures and a good structure, so people don’t have to search too long to find what they are looking for. “For the…

A gardening programme helping young people with special educational needs (SEN) in Kings Heath Park, Birmingham run by the charity Thrive has been praised and received a grant of almost £20,000 from The Rowan Trust. Thrive uses gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities or ill health, or who are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable. The charity – which has gardens in London, Reading, Birmingham and Gateshead – works with people recovering from injuries, those with learning difficulties or physical or sensory impairment, people with mental illness or with age-related diseases, and young people…

Kioti UK is pleased to announce that their move from the former RECO premises in Station Road, St Neots is completed and they now have an identity in their own right. Kioti UK will be based in offices attached to Abbotsley Golf Hotel on the outskirts of St Neots with warehousing facilities located just one mile away. Kioti UK Ltd started operations on February 1st this year following the closure of RECO. Owned by the Pols group who are based in Holland, and responsible for Kioti sales throughout a number of European countries, the UK operation is staffed by former…

One of the rarest plants in the country has been helped to regain a strong hold by a team of scientists and horticulturists from the Eden Project and Natural England. The Lizard juniper (Juniperus communis ssp. hemisphaerica) is a subspecies found in only one location in the country on Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula. Just six years ago, the population had dwindled to only 13 plants in the wild. With so few plants, the subspecies was at risk from being wiped out by a wildfire or grazing animals so Eden and Natural England took cuttings and started growing new plants at Eden’s…

One of the UK’s leading outdoor fitness equipment company Proludic aims to get over one million people more active by 2020 using its range of outdoor fitness equipment. With growing obesity issues and with a marked increase in the proportion of adults that are *obese from 13.2 per cent in 1993 to 26.0 per cent in 2013 for men, and from 16.4 per cent to 23.8 per cent for women, the use of the outdoors for fitness is critical. Having access to green spaces can have a positive impact upon a person’s health and well-being. According to research, populations in…

Ness Botanic Gardens to host an inspiring talk ‘Wild about Perennials’ by garden designer, writer and teacher, Noel Kingsbury. This year’s Leonard Broadbent lecture will focus on the ‘new wave’ of naturalistic planting design using perennial plants; introducing ideas and techniques to inspire your own planting schemes. This contemporary planting style is becoming increasingly popular within a stream of public projects like the High Line in New York, the Olympic Park in London and Trentham in Staffordshire. First discovering nature inspired planting schemes in Europe during the 1990’s, Noel Kingsbury has been at the helm of the current enthusiasm for…

The current rate of woodland creation in England means the Government will be seven years late in hitting its 11 million trees target, according to forestry trade body Confor. The target of planting 11 million trees in the 2015-2020 parliamentary term has been repeated regularly by successive Cabinet ministers, including Andrea Leadsom, Secretary of State for the Environment, and her predecessor Elizabeth Truss. However, latest Forestry Commission statistics show just 1.35 million trees have been planted since the Conservative Government came to office in the May 2015 election – an average of 75,166 trees per month. “At that rate, it…

PLACE Design + Planning and Bell Fischer Landscape Architects (BFLA), two award-winning London-based landscape architecture practices, announced their amalgamation at the beginning of November. The three directors of the enlarged company are Tony Edwards, Gordon Bell and Giles Hopgood. Tony is also a Design Council/ CABE Built Environment expert. PLACE became an Employee Owned Trust (EOT) in July 2016; it is the first independent UK landscape practice to be structured in this way. By giving all the staff a stake in the company’s success the directors believe that they will deliver an even better service for current and prospective clients,…

Green-tech, one of the UK’s largest stockists and distributors of tree planting products, has launched its seasonal Tree Planting Packages brochure. Green-tech has announced that the forthcoming tree planting season is off to a notable start with a marked increase in enquiries and orders. It is fully prepared for its busiest winter yet. This will be the first full winter in its new premises at Rabbit Hill Business Park. Its warehousing capabilities are vastly increased on previous years and it is fully stocked to meet all orders. Green-tech has more tree planting items in stock, ranging from the every-day equipment of tree…

Green space management company, idverde (previously known as The Landscape Group), has been re-awarded its grounds maintenance contract with Basildon Council following a competitive re-tendering process. Services delivered under the contract include grass maintenance, hedge pruning, and maintenance of amenity planted areas and shrubs at a variety of sites throughout the Borough, ranging from country parks to sheltered housing schemes. idverde has been delivering grounds maintenance services to Basildon Council since 2010, when the company was awarded the initial seven-year contract. The new contract will commence on 1 April 2017 and continue until 2024, with the option to extend by another…

Ken White from Frosts Landscapes was elected as the Chairman at the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) Annual Review meeting which took place at FutureScape at Sandown Racecourse on Tuesday 15 November. Ken takes over from Mark Gregory of Landform Consultants who had been in the role since 2010 over which time he has overseen many key developments helping to take the association forward. These include: – his involvement with World Skills UK, Masterclass and Apprenticeship initiatives – the growth in APL Awards and its standing within the industry – the launch of ‘Low Cost High Impact’ at Hampton Court…

2017 marks a special year for Gardeners’ World, 50 years of the much-loved TV programme. In honour of this celebratory milestone, BBC Gardeners’ World Live (15-18 June, NEC) will be hosting a variety of extra special features in the anniversary year including the topically themed Beautiful Borders – and this is the perfect place for fresh garden design talent to get involved. At just a few square meters, the Beautiful Borders are the ideal showcase for budding garden designers, horticultural students and gardening clubs show off their gardening skills, inspiration and creativity. With 90,000 visitors expected over four days in…

Award-winning designer and Gardeners’ World presenter, Adam Frost, and YoungHort co-founder, Jamie Butterworth, are criss-crossing the country to enthuse the horticultural stars of the future. The RHS Ambassadors, whose role it is to inspire the next generation of young horticulturists, will be helping to judge the Society’s national ‘Green Plan It’ schools’ competition, at eight events across the UK. From Glasgow to Bristol, Adam and Jamie will be meeting with hundreds of secondary school pupils who have taken part in the challenge to design an innovative new school or community garden – providing the teams of youngsters with feedback on…

Award winning landscape services business Hultons Landscapes has completed its acquisition of £2 million turnover Welsh firm Wright Landscapes for an undisclosed sum, in a move set to support its long-term growth strategy. The acquisition will see Hultons expand its UK presence into North Wales, and follows its organic growth into the West Midlands and South Yorkshire regions earlier in 2016. Wright Landscapes has 15 employees across offices in Wrexham and Alltami and its clients include local authorities, developers, contractors, private clients and architects. The business will continue to operate under its existing brand as part of Hultons Landscapes. Hultons…